The present invention is directed to cutting or slicing devices for use primarily in the culinary arts.
Devices and machines for cutting or slicing fruits and vegetables are old in the art and in fact certain well known hand-operated devices have been developed for cutting or slicing only tomatoes. In certain instances such devices usually have the cutting blades mounted in a vertical plane upon a suitable supporting base or platform. An article engaging or pusher device is usually mounted on or in said base or platform for sliding movement with respect thereto contemporaneous with engaging the article to be cut or severed. In lieu of slidably mounting the pusher element upon the supporting base said pusher element may be pivotally mounted upon the base whereby the pusher element will, either swing or move through the fixed cutting blades.
In certain prior art devices such as MORRETT, U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,840, dated Sept. 20, 1971, reference is made to rotating the article supported on the cutting knives or blades by the pusher element just prior to forcing the article through the fixed cutting knives. In the prior art patent to GIANGIULIO, U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,582, dated Feb. 20, 1968, the article to be cut, namely, a tomato is pushed through the fixed cutting knives without any attempt being made to rotate the tomato. In fact GIANGIULIO seems to be more concerned in moving the tomato into and through the fixed cutting knives without any rotation of the tomato. In GERSON, U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,839, dated Sept. 20, 1971, the pusher or article engaging member is pivotally mounted on one side of the fixed cutting blades and arranged to extend through said blades for moving an article into engagement with the blades on the side opposite from the pivot point of the pusher.
In the various instances enumerated the article has been pushed through the fixed cutting blades utilizing article engaging or pushing members of varying types. The consensus regarding the mode of operation seems to be that articles, such as tomatoes with their relatively thick skins, should be pushed through the fixed cutting blades with a slight amount of rotation of the article, in certain instances, to enhance the slicing operation.